“That’s not the point,” Nico said, chuckling. “Assuming we come to an agreement and we present ourselves as married, people will bow toyou.”
Oh, that was his point.
Oh, wow.“Oh.”
“You’ll be inside my security sphere, so your daily life will be very different than it is now.”
“Wow.”
“The events we attend will be balls, state dinners with presidents and prime ministers and other royals, and the social season, especially in London. Let’s see, what’s in June?” he mused, head tilted, perusing the ceiling.
Dang, that was cute. Staring at the way he turned his handsome face into the glowing sunlight and the creases in his brow as he pondered creation would be a great way to spend a whole long day.
“Ascot. Wimbledon. Various grand prix,” he said. “The polo finals are next week. We’ll be in the royal enclosures for those.”
All the historical romance books I’d ever read threw scenes of bowing and curtsying and waltzing at me. Ball scenes fromThe Ridgertonsstarted playing in a fast-forward loop behind my forehead. “Oh,wow.”
“For nearly a year, you’ll have to behave differently than I imagine you’re used to. You’ll have to dress differently, I assume.You’ll be driven to events and have security living with you, twenty-four, seven.”
The logistics staggered me. “I don’t have the right kind of clothes for all that. I don’t have the money for airline tickets to go to these things or to stay in hotels. I’ve never even beenonan airplane.”
Nico’s shoulders and his gaze softened. Even his voice was more gentle. “Oh, Lexi.”
Defiance rose up my spine, straightening me. “You don’t have to feel sorry for me. I’m okay. I’m always okay.”
“Lexi, you’ll live with me, in my apartments and homes.”
Apartments and homes?Plural?
“You’ll travel with me, on my planes. You’ll have private showings for designer clothes, which will be tailored for you, and I’ll buy them. And afterwards, you’ll have a settlement, to ease your way back into your more usual life.”
The reality of how Nico’s life—hisnormal life, anyway—was so different than mine bubbled to the surface. “I don’t know if I can pull that off.”
“I’ll teach you.”
“No, seriously. I?—”
Wait a damned minute.
I was anactress.I’d been acting in school plays and community theater since I was nine. My high school theater teacher had helped me get a scholarship to college so I could study acting, even though I hadn’t managed to go to college because I was engaged to Jimmy.
And Jimmy’s family hadn’t liked that I wanted to act.
With Jimmy’s family’s weird insistence on my conforming to their church’s standards, Jimmy had taken acting and theater and the arts away from me, and I wanted itback.
To quote Shakespeare, and I was pretty sure the quote was from Shakespeare, I screwed my courage to the sticking placeand jumped in with both feet. “I’ll do it. Icando it. I’ll pretend to be whatever you want me to for a year.I can act.”
Being hungry and homeless was my other alternative, so yeah, Ijumpedat the opportunity of having a bed and enough food for a year and some money to help myself get settled.
Maybe, if I played my cards right, he might give me enough money to where I could enroll in college and take out loans for the rest. I just needed a little bit to get me started.
And thenagain,oh my living Godagain,someone pounded on the dang door, yelling, “Notary public you asked for, sir!”
Nico glanced at his lap, then stood and went over to open the door. “Come in. The document is around here somewhere.”
I jumped up and grabbed the marriage license from the night before off the nightstand. “Okay! Here we go!”
The woman had brought black ink pens with her.
